Found At E Minor: Discover the jaw-dropping work of hyper realist painter Omar Ortiz

Mexican painter Omar Ortiz is dazzling the Internet with paintings that are so exquisitely hyper realist you could easily mistake them for photographs.

Born in Jalisco in 1977, Omar studied graphic design but found his true calling in the world of painting. A master in the use of charcoal, acrylics, airbrush, and especially oil, he has been showcasing his extraordinary works in galleries around the world since 2005.

To Omar, oil painting is the noblest form of painting because it allows him to achieve things almost impossible to do with other techniques. The quality of the colour and the ability to play with the density of the coating makes of oil painting his weapon of choice to render his impressive works.

“Since I started painting I have always liked to represent things as real as I can, sometimes I succeed sometimes I don’t, what is a fact is that it is very hard for me to do the opposite,” said Omar.

“I enjoy the challenges of trying to reproduce natural light and the nuances that gives us, particularly in bright environments. I like to keep the simplicity of the pieces because I think excess makes us poorer rather than richer.”

The artist has been sharing his work process on his YouTube channel for more than six years now, posting impressive videos where he can be seen creating photo-real images one brushstroke at a time. His channel has around 12 thousand subscribers, with every video raking in as many views.

One of his most talked-about paintings is this awe inspiring rendition of Frida Kahlo, Mexican icon and one of the most captivating artists of the twentieth century. Kahlo has been the subject of a myriad of documentaries, motion pictures and retrospectives, and her very image is deeply ingrained in popular culture worldwide.